I'm Sorry
by ItTicklesLikeCrazy
Summary: Percy and Thalia are sitting by the lake and Percy suddenly feels the urge to apologize for a certain mistake. Percy and Thalia friendship.


**This is just a little oneshot I worked up in my mind a little while back.**

**I don't own Percy Jackson.**

**ENJOY!**

Thalia was pretty glad the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. She sat on the dock next to Percy, close enough to be considered close, but not close enough so she could feel his body heat. That was good. She _was_, after all, a huntress of Artemis, and she was pretty sure Percy would rather die than dishonor Artemis by flirting with Thalia…if Thalia didn't kill him first.

Thalia was sitting with her legs crossed, her silver bow sitting in her lap. The moonlight reflected off the lake, but seemed drawn to the bow, as if it were sucking the moonbeams in. Maybe it was. You never knew with gods.

Thalia was pretty sure the crown on her head was sucking in the moonlight as well. It was made of the same thing as her arrows and bow. Thalia put a hand up to touch it, just to make sure it was there. It was a thin, lightweight circlet, and Thalia could hardly feel it on her head even when she was trying. Even though Thalia knew she couldn't lose it, she always had the slightest worry. It was precious to her, and it had belonged to Zoe.

Percy wasn't saying anything, he was just trailing his legs in the water of the lake. Thalia could see a few naiads playing beneath the surface, but Percy wasn't acknowledging them. He was just smiling at the water with a slight grin, and looking peaceful. Happy. Resolved.

Percy had worn that expression a lot lately, ever since the Titan War. At first, everybody had been sad for the souls lost, but knowing there was an underworld, and that most of them were going to Elysium…it helped you get over death quicker. After a while, everybody-not just Thalia or Annabeth-had noticed Percy looked a lot more peaceful.

Thalia guessed that it was the prophecy being completed. He no longer had the burden of the fate of Olympus on his shoulders, because he'd saved it, and she was ready to bet that that felt pretty great for him. Also, knowing you saved the entire world was enough to make anybody smile. Thalia was a little surprised he didn't brag about it more, but then again, he was Percy. Percy didn't brag.

Thalia sent a glance over her shoulder at the new Camp Half-Blood. She hadn't seen it for very long, despite those years spent protecting it's borders. Then she'd become a huntress, so that really only added up to, more or less, one summer. And, of course, now.

Still, the difference was stunning. It went from a dozen cabins to fifty or so littered all around. There was a temple to _all _the gods, which Annabeth had helped design in her free time, and the rest of the Athena campers had finished off and constructed. You could go up there and pray to or burn offerings for your favorite god or goddess anytime you wanted.

The amphitheater, mess hall, camp store, big house, and all of the other things had been rebuilt, perhaps even built better, and Rachel's modern-age Oracle Cave's purple curtains played with the wind in the distance. Everything looked stunning in the moonlight.

It was late. Thalia didn't know the exact time, but lights out for most of the Cabins had passed already. Since every cabin chose when their lights out was, the lights normally went out all at different times. Most of them were extinguished by now, but Thalia could see that the Artemis cabin's lights still glimmered. They were huntresses of the _moon_ goddess. They liked night, and they liked hunting. She was willing to bet more than a few of them were in a hunting party, shooting random monsters in the woods.

Greek fire still flamed green in the brasiers outside of the hades cabin, so she knew Nico was up. It extinguished when he turned off the interior lights. It was cool like that. The Hephaestus cabin's lights were dark, but the forge was still lit, so she guessed that they were still up. Hypnos was out. Hypnos was always out. Hecate was still awake, though. Thalia had been here three days, and she'd never seen the Hecate lights go out. She supposed they either slept with the lights on, or they just didn't sleep. She sincerely hoped it was the first one.

A small splash bring Thalia back to the moment at hand. Percy is kicking his legs in the pond, moonlight reflecting off the lake water, just like it's lighting up everything else. Thalia smiled. The moment is peaceful. Beautiful. Whole.

"I'm sorry."

Thalia blinks, and tries to figure out what the heck Percy means. He does have things to be sorry about, and so does she. So much, in fact, that if they apologized every time they annoyed each other, the only words that would come out of their mouth would be "sorry". Thankfully, most of the small things canceled each other out. And that's all they were, was small things. Percy did have a _few_ things to really apologize for, but Thalia couldn't think of one of them where he hadn't already apologized.

"Sorry for what?" she finally wondered.

Percy kicked his legs in the water a little more enthusiastically. His feet were bare, but he was soaking his jeans. Well, he would be if he could get wet. Thalia was hoping that he didn't accidentally splash her. That might annoy her, and she was having ouch a nice, peaceful night. She didn't feel like working up the energy to be annoyed.

"Never mind," he told her. "It's stupid."

"It's not stupid if you're apologizing for it to _me_," Thalia argued. Then she paused, realizing it very well might be.

Percy chuckled lightly, even though he hadn't looked back to see her expression. "You want to retract that statement, maybe?" he suggested.

Thalia didn't respond to that, instead vouching for saying, "Well, I want to know what you're apologizing for. Then maybe I'll tell you if it was a stupid thing to apologize for."

"You're going to say it's stupid," he said with conviction.

"Well than shoot!" she challenged. "I could do with a laugh."

She saw a smile spread across his face, and he laughed slightly. Him fingers tapped against the eroded wood of the dock rhythmically. "I'm just warning you."

"Well quit warning and just spit it out!" Thalia ordered.

"Fine," Percy agreed, and turned to look at her. His sea green eyes looked a little mischievous, but still peaceful, calm, happy, "I'm sorry, Thalia." He grinned at her.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Why?" she demanded.

Percy sighed. His hand dropped into the water. "I'm sorry, Thalia Grace, for crashing six hundred pounds of stinky, smelly, disgusting bull-man into you my first day at camp."

Thalia blinked. "Uhh…what?"

"…and thank you, Thalia Grace," Percy continued. "For knocking the sense out of a very angry Minotaur when I bashed his head against your tree stump."

Thalia blinked. She looked over to Percy, stared into his sea green eyes for a moment, and then gave him a look. "You know, you were right. That _was _stupid," she said, and pushed him into the water. She didn't even look back as he surfaced and spluttered indignantly about his sudden dip. She headed for the Artemis cabin. She had sleep to catch up on.


End file.
